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I’m a big beer lover! It’s a nice thing to drink a glass or two of fragrant foam, and even with a good snack! But far from all varieties warm my soul, because the brewing process today is not about quality, but about quantity. Yes, and dad likes to grumble, saying that in his Soviet youth, beer was tastier, more fragrant, and softer.
We decided to conduct an experiment and taste some brands of beer for compliance with the same “USSR” standard.
The story was sent by blog subscriber Roman.
Popular Soviet beer
We decided to determine the TOP-3 most popular and delicious varieties of Soviet beer. Dad was a little nostalgic, drooling sadly, and this is what came of it.
- Zhigulevskoe. The same beer founder of the family of all modern Zhiguli, which flaunt in shop windows. Then it was really refreshing! With a small strength of 3,5%, the Soviet “Zhigulevskoye” had the same moderate sourness, deep barley aroma and some sweet aftertaste. But later, manufacturers began to experiment with fermentation periods, and the quality of Zhiguli began to noticeably limp.
- “Barley ear”. Tart malty taste with a characteristic subtle sweetness. Intense aroma of meadow herbs and bread crust. Fortress 3,2%. I would give anything to try this beer!
- “Capital”. A turnover of 3,9%, in those days such beer was considered quite strong. As dad says, there was nothing superfluous in this beer. And although “Stolichnoye” did not have the sophistication of the two previous varieties, it was seasoned and fragrant.
After that, we rushed to the store to look for beer, at least somewhat reminiscent of high-quality Soviet brewing.
Zhigulevskoe “Velvet”
To begin with, the entire Zhiguli line is a budget option for all beer lovers. In retail stores, the price of this brand varies from 37 to 50 rubles.
“Velvet” is a dark beer and fully justifies its name. “Velvet”, like most representatives of the dark, is sweetish, but with bitterness.
At a turnover of 4%, it has a mild taste, and if you savor it, you can hear notes of burnt caramel. The color resembles kvass or instant coffee.
As an appetizer, cheese and meat cuts, as well as nuts, were perfect.
Zhigulevskoe “Light”
And this is where dad got upset. Tasting the classic “Zhiguli” he was looking forward to most of all, but in the end his hopes were not justified.
The beer was sour and somewhat stale. Neither malt, nor, moreover, barley, did not even smell. There was no foam cap either, but there were gaziks like in champagne. Outwardly, the light Zhigul looked more like Pinocchio lemonade, but it tasted like “spoiled Pinocchio lemonade”.
A fortress of 4% is not felt at all. We prepared dried squid and horse mackerel as appetizers, but decided not to spoil such delicious things with a light Zhigul. Postponed until the next tasting.
By the way, the light “Zhigulevskoye” is more expensive than “Velvet”. The cost varies from 45 to 60 rubles per zero.
“Rizhskoe” GOST
Another budget beer, the price range is from 29 to 40 rubles per 0,5 bottle.
We carefully studied the composition: water, barley malt and hops. But despite the loud statement about the purity of the composition, the result of brewing according to GOST did not impress me and my father either. Despite the beautiful “honey” color and impressive head of foam, the smell and taste are not so pronounced.
Hop aroma is present, but weak. It felt good when we just filled the glasses, but then quickly disappeared along with the foam. Although it is worth recognizing that there is a characteristic bitterness in the “Rizhsky” and you cannot call it sour.
The fortress is quite high – 4,8%. Unfortunately, the beer did not live up to our expectations.
However, we still ate squid.
Hamovniki “Dining room”
Finally, we found a kind of beer that even remotely reminded Bata of his happy Soviet youth. We understood this as soon as we opened the bottle, because we were immediately enveloped in the aroma of fragrant hops! Here you have an appropriate sourness, and moderately angry bitterness, and even a light unobtrusive sweetness.
The beer has a pleasant amber color and a medium head. “Khamovniki Table” moderately carbonated, without the “effect” of sore throat, goes very gently.
The turnover is only 3,7%, but the beer is very suitable, and dried fish was also used, without which, by the way, I can’t even imagine drinking foamy.
By the way, the price is quite affordable, from 38 to 60 rubles, depending on the store. The only drawback we found with this beer is that you can’t find it anywhere. If you know any other varieties reminiscent of Soviet beer, then write, dad will definitely try!